Startup Physicians

Description:  Dr. Alison Curfman sits down with Dr. Stephen Garber, a board-certified anesthesiologist with more than 35 years of clinical experience, and Dr. Amar Patel, an orthopedic surgeon, to explore what it looks like when physicians step beyond traditional clinical roles and become active participants in healthcare innovation. Dr. Garber shares the story of how his experience in anesthesiol...

Orthopedic surgeon and physician founder Dr. Danny Goel went from identifying gaps in surgical training to co-founding PrecisionOS, a virtual reality and AI-powered platform designed to help surgeons practice skills and judgment in a risk-free environment. In this conversation, Danny joins Dr. Alison Curfman to talk about what that path looked like: starting with no intention of building a company...

Oncologist and physician founder Dr. Jose Barreau went from identifying a communication problem inside the hospital to building Doc Halo, growing it into Halo Health, raising venture capital, and ultimately selling the company in 2021.   In this conversation, Jose joins Dr. Alison Curfman to talk about what that path actually looked like: starting with zero business or development experience, find...

In this episode of the Startup Physicians Podcast, Dr. Alison Curfman sits down with orthopedic surgeon and physician founder Dr. Justin Smith to talk about his path from clinical medicine to entrepreneurship, private practice, and building an AI-powered platform designed to reduce the administrative burden of running a medical practice.   Justin shares how his entrepreneurial journey started with...

In this episode, Dr. Alison Curfman shares one of the most common mistakes she sees physician entrepreneurs make: spending months (and sometimes hundreds of thousands of dollars) building a product before identifying who will actually buy it. Drawing from conversations with dozens of physician founders, Alison explains why building an MVP is still the right instinct, but why customer discovery and...

Do you constantly see better ways to solve problems? Do new ideas come naturally, but execution sometimes feels overwhelming? In this episode, Alison Curfman explores what it really means to be a visionary entrepreneur. She shares the five biggest lessons she's learned about visionary thinking from recognizing opportunities others miss to understanding why traditional environments can feel li...

Many physicians recognize problems in healthcare that deserve better solutions. But how do you know if an idea has the potential to become a real company? In this solo episode, Dr. Alison Curfman walks through the framework Startup Physicians uses to help physician founders evaluate and expand their ideas into venture-backable businesses. She introduces the free Concept Pitch Builder, an AI-powere...

Dr. Mary Parman spent more than 20 years practicing OB/GYN before building a second path in health tech consulting and startup advisory work. In this episode, she joins Dr. Alison Curfman to talk about how physicians can use their clinical expertise with startups without necessarily leaving medicine or starting a company themselves. They discuss how Mary began meeting health tech founders, how she...

Many physicians know they have valuable clinical insight, but they struggle to name where that value fits outside traditional clinical practice. In this re-release episode, Dr. Alison Curfman walks through five common barriers physicians face when exploring startup advising, consulting, and industry work — from “I don’t have anything unique to offer” to “I’m just a doctor. I don’t know business.”...

Why would a healthcare startup pay for physician expertise? In this re-release episode of the Startup Physicians podcast, Dr. Alison Curfman breaks down the three ways physicians create measurable business value for startups: helping companies grow revenue, reduce costs, and mitigate risk. This episode is for physicians who know they have value outside of clinical practice but need a clearer way t...

Dr. Hilary Gallin is an obstetric anesthesiologist, medical device founder, and startup advisor who has built companies from problems she saw in clinical practice. In this episode of Startup Physicians, Dr. Gallin joins Dr. Alison Curfman to talk about the path from physician to founder, including how she started Fastline, a medical device company focused on making central line placement safer and...

What happens when physicians bring clinical insight into the startup world? In this episode of the Startup Physicians Podcast , Dr. Alison Curfman sits down with dermatologist, founder, and author Dr. David Lortscher , co-founder of a teledermatology company that scaled to hundreds of employees, served 5 million patients, and reached a billion-dollar valuation. They discuss why physicians are uniq...

In this episode of the Startup Physicians Podcast , Dr. Alison Curfman talks with Dr. Sarah Matt about building a nonlinear physician career and why doctors make powerful startup strategists. Dr. Matt shares her journey from burn surgery to healthcare strategy, startups, Oracle, remote robotic surgery, consulting, and authoring The Borderless Healthcare Revolution . Together, they explore how phys...

How do you know if your healthcare idea could become a scalable startup? In this episode, Dr. Alison Curfman talks with Tomasz Rudolf, entrepreneur, venture builder, digital health founder, and Startup Physicians advisor, about how physicians can validate ideas, identify who will pay, avoid building too soon, and choose between a lifestyle business and a venture-backed startup. They also discuss w...

What’s the difference between a healthcare startup and a physician-owned small business ? In this solo episode, Alison Curfman breaks down how physician founders can choose the right path before they build. She explains why startups and small businesses differ from day one in their growth strategy, funding needs, ownership structure, scalability, and long-term outcomes. Alison shares lessons from...

Physicians are trained to solve complex problems, but most are never taught how to turn a clinical insight into a scalable company. In this episode of the Startup Physicians Podcast , Dr. Alison Curfman sits down with Startup & Venture Advisor Kim Sharp to talk about the startup playbook physicians don’t learn in medical school. They discuss what physician founders need before they pitch, buil...

If you’ve ever felt called to build something beyond clinical medicine—but stopped yourself because of financial fear—this episode reframes everything. In this episode, Dr. Alison Curfman breaks down one of the biggest misconceptions holding physicians back: the idea that a W-2 job is the only “safe” path. This conversation walks through a practical, structured approach to transitioning into entre...

In this episode, I talk about how physicians can add real value to startups without leaving clinical practice. I break down seven core functions where we already have a competitive edge: product design, marketing, business development, clinical research, user insight, policy advocacy, and strategic advisory. Each of these roles taps into what we already know and do as physicians. You don’t need a...

Many physicians don’t fully understand the contracts they sign when starting their careers. In this episode of the Startup Physicians Podcast , Dr. Alison Curfman speaks with Dr. Daniella Dennis , an emergency medicine resident at the University of Connecticut and founder of Payscope MD , an AI platform designed to help physicians better understand employment contracts and salary benchmarks. Danie...

You already know what’s broken in healthcare. The question is—do you know how to build something that actually fixes it? In this solo episode, Dr. Alison Curfman breaks down the 5 foundations every physician founder needs to go from clinical insight → startup launch. After co-founding a company that scaled to 100,000 patients, raising over $100M across ventures, and working inside private equity e...

Physicians are increasingly exploring careers beyond traditional clinical practice , and venture capital is one path that allows doctors to help shape the future of healthcare innovation.  In this episode of the Startup Physicians Podcast , Dr. Alison Curfman sits down with radiologist and healthcare venture leader Dr. Daniel Dow to discuss how physicians can transition into the startup and ventur...

What happens when a physician decides not to follow the traditional path? In this episode of the Startup Physicians Podcast , Dr. Alison Curfman sits down with Dr. Payel Gupta , a board-certified allergist and immunologist who took a series of bold, intentional risks — from global health sabbaticals to becoming a health tech co-founder — ultimately leading to a successful startup acquisition. Dr....

What if the skills that made you a great physician are the exact skills that can launch your next career? In this episode of Startup Physicians , Dr. Alison Curfman sits down with emergency physician turned founder and startup executive, Dr. Alex Mohseni, to unpack how doctors can break into health tech, innovation, and leadership — without waiting for permission and without going back for another...

Career transitions are not failures — they’re expansion. In this episode of the Startup Physicians Podcast , Dr. Alison Curfman sits down with child psychiatrist turned tech founder Dr. Marissa Caudill , co-founder of SuperDoc Tech , to talk about career reinvention, physician entrepreneurship, and building scalable systems that actually work. Marissa shares her nonlinear journey: From MD-PhD and...

In this episode of Startup Physicians , Dr. Alison Curfman sits down with Dr. Michael Fang , a practicing geriatrician and serial entrepreneur, to explore how physicians can build impactful healthcare startups— without leaving clinical medicine . Michael shares his journey from traditional medical training to founding multiple healthcare technology companies, beginning with something deceptively s...